HBP: Episode 119: Chris Santos

Chris is an American actor, from New York but lived the last 10 years in LA. Having landed a lead role in the Steven Soderbergh movie The Girlfriend Experience, after intiially being a consultant for the film due to his fitness instructor background, Chris went on to feature in Perfect, another of Soderbergh’s works. He also thinks he would be a friendly vampire muppet!

Bio:

Chris Santos, one of five children, was born in Long Island, New York. His first foray into acting was at the age of 12 in esteemed writer and producer Rob Weiss’s (AMERICAN PSYCHO, “Entourage”) film AMONGST FRIENDS shot in his hometown on Long Island.

Santos is best known for his breakout role in the feature film THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (directed by Steven Soderbergh) where he played the male lead opposite Sasha Grey. The film, which centers around a high-end escort ‘Chelsea/Christine’ (Grey) and her boyfriend ‘Chris’ (Santos), has since been turned into a Golden Globe-nominated drama series, airing on Starz. Santos was introduced to the film by its acclaimed writer David Levien (OCEAN’S THIRTEEN, “Billions”) who at the time was his client as a personal trainer living in New York. In fact, the character ‘Chris’ had so many similarities to Santos, that Levien and Soderbergh decided to cast him for the role. The film further solidified his taste for acting and since then, Santos has been working ferociously to fine tune and perfect his craft, training and completing master classes with Hollywood’s premier acting coaches including Ivana Chubbuck, Deborah Aquila, Lesly Kahn, and Margie Haber. Chris went on to work with many great Hollywood actors, including Betty White.

Chris has returned to the film festival circuit, co-starring in his second Steven Soderbergh film PERFECT which premieres at SXSW. Written and directed by the award-winning Eddie Alcazar, produced by Academy Award-winner Steven Soderbergh, and composed by Los Angeles based experimental multi-genre producer and rapper Flying Lotus, PERFECT tells the story of a young man with a violent past as he enters a mysterious clinic where the patients wildly transform their bodies and minds using genetic engineering. Co-starring Abbie Cornish, Martin Sensmeier and Maurice Compte, the psychological thriller fully captivates its audience, steering them along a thought-provoking journey while also providing a luxurious treat for science fiction fans.

Santos additionally has the beautifully shot film SOMEDAY starring opposite Dominican actress Katherine Castro, which recently wrapped filming. The film follows two strangers who meet on a 14-hr flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. ‘Adam’ (Santos) is a world-famous composer, but ‘Melody’ (Castro) doesn’t recognize her flight companion seated next to her. Along the way they pour their hearts out, forging a connection that is more beautiful, precisely because of its simple, fleeting nature.

Santos currently resides in Los Angeles. When he is not acting or writing, the fitness enthusiast enjoys Thai boxing and Brazilian jujitsu.